Luke Morris, long recognised as the hardest-working jockey in Britain, gets his chance to ride in Hong Kong for the first time when he partners long-shot Brave Emperor in the FWD Champions Mile at Sha Tin on Sunday.

Morris’s industrious nature sees him travelling the motorways and country roads, riding every day in all weathers, for which he is known and admired, though latterly he is more famous for winning the 2022 Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe on the grey mare Alpinista.

There have been few more popular Arc winners in recent years than Alpinista, trained at Newmarket by Morris’s boss Sir Mark Prescott. And it was the jockey’s coolness in the home straight that lives long in the memory. He waited, and waited, before launching the mare with a final flourish that carried her to victory.

It would be hard to find a jockey as busy as Morris has been in recent times.  In the 10-year period 2014-2023, the jockey took 13,214 rides in Britain, an average of 1,321 per calendar year, for 1,392 winners. And one-third of the way through 2024, he has ridden in 250 races on home soil.

Morris reveals that he had applied to ride in Hong Kong in the past, and on a separate occasion, he had been approached by the Jockey Club. Nothing came of either — perhaps his relentless schedule got in the way — but it increased his interest in Hong Kong racing and gave him the ambition to travel here at some point.

“I have taken a very keen interest ever since, and even more so now, knowing that I would be getting the opportunity to ride Brave Emperor on Champions Day. I have admired Hong Kong racing for a long time,” he adds.

Brave Emperor comes to this meeting with a remarkable globetrotting record.  From 16 starts, the four-year-old has run in six countries — UK, France, Italy, Germany, Sweden and Qatar — winning 10 races.  No wonder his owners, the Middleham Park Racing Syndicate, describe him as a special horse.

His jockey is also unstinting in his admiration: “He’s a tough, hardy knocking horse. Every time we’ve run him he has gradually been stepped up and every time he has come up to the mark.

“We are probably taking a big jump this time, taking on Golden Sixty and Voyage Bubble, but one thing about him he tries extremely hard. Tactically, and ground-wise, he’s extremely versatile.

“If there happened to be rain, a huge downpour, the wet track would work in his favour, and less so for the local horses.  He can lead, he can sit in.  You can ride him according to what you feel is the best plan for the race,” he points out.

Tom Palin heads up the Middleham Park syndicate — 18 of the group have travelled to Hong Kong for the race — and says he is fully aware of the task ahead.  “We are walking into a lion’s den,” he admits.

“We are hugely respectful (of Golden Sixty) but being naturally competitive, we all want to try to pit ourselves against the best in the world. Arguably, there are very few better than Golden Sixty over a mile, certainly in his own backyard.

“Our fellow is brave by name, brave by nature. Golden Sixty is an important horse in world racing, and I’d just love to see how we pit ourselves against him,” he explains.

Middleham Park is among the most successful syndication groups in the UK, having been operating for 28 years and numbering six Group 1 winners on its CV.  Their best so far has been Toormore, champion two-year-old in Europe in 2013.

Brave Emperor has also given syndicate members the travel bug. “It’s exciting to go to different jurisdictions to see and experience how other countries do it. We are very much looking forward to seeing Hong Kong racing,” Palin says.

Middleham Park have had one previous runner in Hong Kong — Penitent, who finished seventh in the 2013 Champions Mile at 98-1.  Palin admits “that was an expensive exercise.”

He will be hoping Brave Emperor performs better.